June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Germany beat Denmark 2-1 last night
in its final group match to advance to the quarterfinals at
soccer’s European Championship, while Portugal defeated the
Netherlands by the same score to earn its spot.

Lars Bender got the winner for Germany, the record three-time champion, after 80 minutes in Lviv, Ukraine, to maintain
his team’s perfect record in Group B. Portugal has a fifth
straight quarterfinal appearance after it rallied against 1988
winner the Netherlands in Kharkiv on two goals from Cristiano
Ronaldo.

“Apart from my goal it was a great day for me,” Bender
said in comments on UEFA’s website. “It was my first appearance
at the Euros and I scored the winning goal to help us reach the
quarterfinals. I will remember this day for a very long time.”

Germany finishes with nine points, Portugal six and
Denmark three. The Netherlands, finalist in the 2010 World Cup,
lost all three of its games. Germany will now face Greece, the
runnerup from Group A, with Portugal to meet the Czech Republic.

The remaining two quarterfinal places will be decided after
the final round of matches in Group C and Group D. Today in
Group C, Croatia plays defending champion Spain in Gdansk,
Poland, and Italy faces Ireland in Poznan.

Germany, which needed a point to guarantee qualification,
pressed right from the start in Lviv. Thomas Mueller fired over
the bar, then Sami Khedira was blocked on the left of goal.
Mueller should have opened the scoring but saw his close-range
effort saved by Stephan Andersen.

Shot Wide

Denmark, a surprise winner of the tournament in 1992,
appeared to withstand the early pressure, only for Lukas
Podolski, making his 100th appearance for Germany, to shoot his
team into the lead in the 19th minute. He slammed the ball into
the net after Mueller cut the ball back from the right of goal.

Denmark hit back, and Michael Krohn-Dehli made it 1-1 in
the 24th minute, heading past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after
Nicklas Bendtner nodded the ball across goal from a corner.

Man of the match Podolski sent a free kick over as Germany
stepped up the pressure, and Khedira shot wide from 10 yards,
but Denmark held out for 1-1 at halftime.

Denmark’s Jakob Poulsen almost made it 2-1 but shot just
past the post as the second half opened.

Germany played a containing game in the second half, happy
to maintain at least the point that would see the nation
advance. The biggest scare for the Germans came when an appeal
for a penalty, for a foul on Bendtner, was turned down.

Dominated Possession

Bender then ensured Germany all three points and the top
place in the group, slotting in from close range.

“It was a special occasion to mark my 100th cap with a
goal,” Podolski told reporters. “But the most important thing
is that we are through to the knockout stage.”

The Netherlands brought Rafael van der Vaart and Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar into the starting lineup in Kharkiv in a more
attacking formation in search of a win to have any chance of
advancing.

The Dutch dominated early possession, Wesley Sneijder
having an early shot over the bar before Van der Vaart got the
game’s first goal on 11 minutes.

Tottenham’s Van der Vaart collected a pass from Arjen
Robben 20 yards from goal and curled a left-foot shot into the
corner of the net past goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

Portugal started to push forward more and Ronaldo hit the
outside of a post five minutes later. Teammate Helder Postiga
shot wide moments later when Dutch fullback Gregory van der Wiel
gave the ball away.

Ronaldo Strikes

Ronaldo forced Maarten Stekelenburg into a save from a
header on 23 minutes, but gave the goalkeeper no chance five
minutes later when he ran onto Joao Pereira’s defense-splitting
pass and scored.

The Real Madrid forward then tested Stekelenburg with a
powerful 40-yard shot and headed just wide before halftime.

Portugal continued to look the most likely to score again
with a series of quick counterattacks. Fabio Coentrao tested
Stekelenburg in the 66th minute and Nani had a shot saved by the
goalkeeper before Ronaldo put his team ahead, cutting inside and
placing a shot into the net on 74 minutes.

Huntelaar and Robin van Persie did miss opportunities late
on, but Portugal came closest when Ronaldo struck a post from 25
yards.

“I think we started quite well today,” Netherlands coach
Bert van Marwijk told reporters. “But you saw that when we
concede a goal, the uncertainty remains. If we’d scored a
second, we might have been more sure of ourselves, but we didn’t
take our chances.”

The Netherlands hadn’t exited in the group stage since
1980. Portugal extended its strong record against the Dutch to
seven wins from 11 meetings.